HP ZBook 17 G3 Owners Lounge

I have a heat sink available to anyine 2ho wants it. Free of course all you need to-do is pay postage

 

I owe an G3 17" with the ATI M6150W graphics.
Did someone installed Linux and managed the graphics switch discrete (ATI) / IGP (Intel HD 530) ?

The only option I've in order to use the ATI graphics is to set "Discrete Graphics" in the BIOS.
But in this case, the computer get much more warm (about 15°C more, and 63°c idle).
I might have trouble with the graphics drivers (i've tried open source AMDGPU and RADEON kernel modules) --
Unable to install any proprietary AMD drivers for this card. Did someone found a way to install them ?

Running over Fedora 27

 

Has anyone had any issues with the new TPM upgrade not installing or something

 

Hey guys. Just read through this whole thread and boy there's a lot of interesting data points here. I'm just commenting to add some of my own experiences. I'll just do it in bullet points to keep things straightforward.

• GPU related stuff:
  • Someone mentioned the ZBook 17 G2 could be upgraded to a 980M if it does not have a DreamColor panel. While I can't confirm this, I can confirm that my experiences so far do not contradict this either. One of my friends has a G2 with a DreamColor panel and the system would boot with no graphics (we could hear system audio w/ a black screen) when my GTX 980M (which works with no issues in my 8770w) was installed.
    • At the time, I didn't know that this may be due to the DC panel. Does anyone know what exactly about it causes this limitation? Is it just the panel that causes the issue, or do DC models have differences in other components (maybe the motherboard) too?
  • Glad to see someone was able to get a 980M to work in the G3, but I see that a modded driver was used. As of several months ago, I no longer had to modify the drivers from Nvidia to get them to successfully install on my 8770w (with the aforementioned GTX 980M installed). (You can read more about this in my numerous posts here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...0m-8gb-they-work.786791/page-18#post-10707347) I'm wondering if this is the case now with the G3 too. Hopefully Nvidia is loosening up on these restrictions across the board.
    • The success here makes me hopeful about my ZBook 17 G4 as well. Has anyone tested one of these? Unfortunately there's no Owner's Lounge for the G4 yet and data about these seems pretty scarce on these forums. Would be interesting to see if any of the nonstandard form factor 10 series cards are compatible (or even fit) as well.
• Battery recall:
  • Can confirm that the G4 was affected too (though not mine thankfully).
  • Not sure if it was mentioned here and I missed it, but do keep in mind that HP is offering on-site service to anyone with an affected model so you shouldn't need to go too far out of your way to get the replacement done.
• DreamColor:
  • As there's no G4 thread, I'll mention this here too for anyone who's interested. I purchased my G4 without a DreamColor panel and ordered the 4K DreamColor display assembly (the whole assembly, not just the panel) separately to install myself. Doing so was easy and straightforward, and the display runs perfectly on my system. The only problem is that I could not get the calibration tool to install. I would just get an error saying that an HP system with a DreamColor panel was required to install it. After many hours on the phone with HP support (as I have the business warranty on this system) I found out some interesting things.
    • I didn't specifically mention I made the replacement myself. As they could see from the serial number that the system did not originally come with the DreamColor model, they just assumed the corporation that owned this previously (I bought it used off eBay) had made the upgrade themselves. Apparently though, this in no way affected the warranty on the system, and I was told that if anything ever were to happen that required a display replacement, they would still do so, but with the original display model the system was sold with (in my case, the 1080p touch screen).
    • It turns out that on the 17 G4 (I don't know what other ZBooks this applies to), a feature byte is coded into the BIOS which indicates whether the system was sold with a DreamColor display or not. This is used to determine whether or not the calibration tool can install or not.
      • From the way they were talking (I spoke to multiple people who gave me different parts of the story), it looks like if they wanted, a technician can easily modify the feature byte to enable the DreamColor functionality, but they refuse to do so. After several people first told me that it was possible, and that they'd have to escalate the issue to see if that can be approved, I was then met with several other people who (rather bureaucratically) said that it was not possible.

I hope this information is useful to someone.

 

Hello,

Have someone ever tried putting M5000M from Dell Precision into a HP Zbook 17 G3? What should I do to ensure before buying, that it's possible to make that configuration?

 

Hello guys - quick question - is there a way to change keypad layout (e.g. from Turkey keypad layout - to the UK) - without voiding the warranty?

Keen to still have warranty / the laptop has depot warranty and they usually don't like it if there is signs of keypad change I imagine? e.g.

-To replace the keypad itself on the 17 G3 = a complete disassembly (inc MB - hence I think it might void the coverage).
-To strip each key off individually will probably be a nightmare. Is there any other solutions? (e.g. soft key stick on?)

 

I assume you meant keyboard.
According to the service manual ZBook 17 G3 page 75-77 (Here's the link: http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c06107030 ) you would only remove the service panel and few screws to detach the keyboard from the main chassis. Take note about using the thin tool (eg screwdriver) to push the keyboard out as shown in the manual.
As far as taking each key out and replacing them individually; I wouldn't advice it. I had done this one time before and the result was few broken key-mechanisms.

 

My hero .

That helps alot. I'll go and order the keypad now. Last time I swapped the whole top cover of another ZBook 17 G3 / which took alot of work / for some reason I had it stuck my head that the keypad wasn't easily removeable / phew.

 

Some additional information to add to my earlier post. My other friend who also has a G2 (dreamcolor) wanted to upgrade his GPU from a K1100M to a K4100M that he purchased online without doing much research. I feared that we might run into some issues, and I was correct. The system booted fine and the screen was running, but only using Microsoft Basic Display Adapter. Windows actually automatically started installing the correct drivers though, but the screen would go black partway through the install and not turn back on. Multiple reboots and driver wipes with DDU resulted in the same behavior. Upon checking the IDs of the GPU, I determined that it was in fact a Dell model. I was able to find an HP vBIOS for it online, and after flashing it, the card worked flawlessly on the latest Nvidia drivers.

 

So I've been seeking something new and fresh, but still with dream color.

My current laptop is a ZBook 17 G1 with a dreamcolor screen. Works quite well, however, A. 1080p is a little old hat, and B. it's just kind of old.

With that in mind, I started looking for a new laptop, and found, for 920 dollars (ouch) a Zbook 17 G3 Dreamcolor with a M3000M (which is basically a GTX 970m)

I'm hopeful that Maxwell Cards will work in this DC based unit, as the quadro cards they shipped with were all maxwell. I'm trying to test that theory out. Worst case scenario, I end up with what's basically a 970m anyway, on a 4K dreamcolor screen, a 6th gen i7 (only 6700HQ, but I can get a 6820HQ or a XEON seperately), and DDR4 memory.

So once I get the laptop, I'll update here with how the installation of my 970M goes. I'm hopeful it works, and if it does, I may seek out a pascal MXM-B card.

My reason for going with a 17 was purely support for MXM-B. I got my hands on a Zbook 15 g3 with dreamcolor, but the cards are highly restrictive at MXM-A spec, and the performance left a little bit to be desired in gaming terms. No possible upgrades means no real gaming can be done.

I'll update with more when I get my hands on this.

 

Keep in mind what I said earlier about the G2's refusal to accept a 980M. Quite a few of these systems have some weird whitelisting behavior, and (at least with the G2s) the dreamcolor models had more issues due to not having the option to disable optimus.

 

Yes, but I'm hopeful because of the architecture match.

The previous issue I had with dream color was trying to replace a keplar card with a Maxwell. It would work without drivers and uefi enabled.

I have suspicions that FeatureBytes in the UEFI may play a role in what cards work. I'm not sure why. Pure speculation.

I'm going to try to mod the FeatureBytes and see if I can get the 970m to work.

I'm also going to try with and without UEFI. And I'll try to find a HP vBIOS to flash on to the 970m. I know someone succeeded in doing that with a Dell card and the card still functioned for them in their HP laptop.

 

Do you have any info on featurebyte modding? I tried looking into this a while back and couldn't find ANYTHING. I have a dreamcolor display on my G4 that was added afterwards but I can't install the dreamcolor calibration utility on the system due to the featurebytes not indicating DC support.

 

Sadly I don't. I was just going to dump the ROM and start cracking at it until I figured it out.

But I had to send the laptop back. Was perfect in every way, except it had a broken DIMM slot. I paid 940 dollars. Not buying something with broken hardware for that much money.

 

hi all,
i want buy gtx 1060 or p3000 for my zbook 17 g3 but not sure if it works .
Has anyone ever tried mounting 1060/1070 or p3000 / p4000 for zbook 17 g3?

 

120hz LCD Panel Upgrade in Zbook 17 G3

I was recently able to put a 120hz LCD from and HP Omen Gaming laptop (17-an012dx) in my old G3. It's a 1080p IPS panel (which is a nice upgrade from the 900p TN that this laptop had in it). The only hitch that I ran into was that in my research online I mislead myself into believing that the 900p screen used a 40 pin connector, it in fact uses the 30 pin. I was able to find a 40 pin replacement cable from what I assume was a DreamColor equipped G3, which fit perfectly into both the laptop and the new screen.

Here are the part numbers:
Omen LCD Panel 1080p 120hz 40 pin: 939308-001 (this is the part number listed on the blisscomputers.net website that I ordered it from)
40 Pin HP cable: DC02C00CA00 (from ebay)

The M5000M can't drive the screen at 120 fps reliably but hopefully I will be able to swap to a Pascal MXM in the future when they are not ridiculously expensive.

 

thanks for this, Is this a straight forward swap where all screws match? If you could give a brief instruction how you switched it out also thanks. I have two 17 G3's, one with the 1600x900 with a GTX 980M and one with the 1080 has a Qaudro M3000 . Ill be looking into doing this my g3 1600x900 version and I hope it can drive the 120hz. Im also gonna upgrade my G3 with the 1080 to a 980M and would like to make it also IPS but Im not sure about that route if noones done it yet. I know the 1080 is the 40pin and the 900 and 4k are both 30 pin.

Both with GTX 980M and IPS 1080 would be sweet.

sorry I keep editing as I keep thinking of how im gonna attempt this.. One more thing is why could you not use the 30 pin cable that was already with your G3 for the 1600x900 panel?

 

I recently just upgraded my 17 G3 to a 980M, from what I understand all the card above a 980M are MXM A which is not the right form factor. I maybe wrong but I could not find anything about a 1060 or above working. If you can find a MXM B 1060 or above it might need chassis modding and heatsink modding and then it might also have driver and voltage problems. This is just what I briefly gathered and also since someone attempted the 980M upgrade and was successful, I also just went with what I knew worked. So as far as I know 980M is the highest plug in play with minor driver mod that works. Also do you have the DreamQuest panel? I dont think the 4k versions can be upgraded to these cards either.

 

The MSI Gtx1060 is a mxm 3.0 b card too and the same for quadro cards

 

I’ll look into it, if it is the same then I’ll try to upgrade my 17 G3 to a 1060 and let you all know how it goes.

 

Anyone got a spare 4k dreamcolor screen I can buy off them

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

 

Just ordered a 1060 mxm since you all brought it to my attention. I’ll let you know how it goes, coming from China takes a week or so.

I checked the card and is exactly like my 980m minus the extra 2gb chips so should line up perfectly.

 

Looking foward to hear more about this. Could you share exactly what 1060 did you order?

I have a zbook G3 m1000m with an 1600x900 awful display.. If a 1060 upgrade os really possível, I may give It a try

 

I have two ZBook 17 G3’s. One with 1600x900 and one 1080x1920. They both would be the same as far as upgrading the video cards. I have installed a GTX 980m MXM that I got on eBay on the 1600x900 and on the 1080x1920 installed the GTX 1060. The 980m replaced was straight forward swap. The heatsink cutouts were exact fitting for the 980m card. However the 1060 card had a little bit different memory and chips near the memory that were different. So one of the chips were not cut out in the heatsink. Which would leave the heatsink a little off. However the heat sink uses thermal pads at that area. So all I did was the one chip that was not cut out I did not place a thermal pad on it so the chip is closer to the heatsink. It’s not the best setup, probably the best is to dremel the heatsink to fit snug but I chose to just leave out the thermal pad. Installed the card and see if it would work. I’ve been using it for several months and playing gta v and etc and it’s running fine. I’ve noticed for example 980m vs 1060 about 20fps difference. 980m about 70 to 80 FPS and 1060 about 90 to 100 FPS on ultra.

GTX 1060 6gb MXM 3.0 Type B
GTX 980m 8gb MXM B N16E-GX-A1

 

Thansk for the great and detailed info.

Did you need to mess with vbios modifications on your 1060? The card I am looking is sold as compatible with these (no HP models mentioned):

Dell Alienware M17X(R4,R5) M18X(R2,R3)

Dell Alienware 17 (3D 120Hz screen) , 18 (3D 120Hz screen)

Clevo P150SM P157SM P170SM P177SM P150SM-A P157SM-A P170SM-A P177SM-A

Clevo P370SM P375SM P370SM-A P375SM-A P377SM-A P570WM

MSI GT62 GT70 GT72 GT73 GT75 GT80


The 17 G3 Zbook's heatsink is standard for nvidia cards, so I believe I may run in the thermal pads issue you mentioned.

I am a bit unsure about the display (LVDS x eDP), dont know if I need to upgrade the display to get a Pascal card (10xx) working.

 

Sorry - I didn't get notification of this. If you're still interested the screw pattern on the screen was a straight match so no problems there. You do have to pull the screen bezel off which is a little harrowing as it is glued/plastic retainered onto the screen and back. My bezel was already broken so I had a new one to put on. The LCD from the Omen has a 40 pin connector which is why I had to use a different cable because the 1600x900 is the 30 pin.

In order to swap the cables you have to open the bottom and the routing is a bit of a pain, you have to fully detach the screen hinges but its not too much of a problem. I found the HP service manual online and that helped with some of the teardown steps. I wish I had taken pictures of the whole process but I was so excited to have it working I forgot to.

 

Gents;


Locally there's a Zbook 17 G3 with a Dreamcolor, 64gb of ram, 512gb nvme ssd.......and integrated video for sale for $600. It's as-new in box and he says he hasn't even turned it on. Warranty has a year left on it.


What's the possibility of getting an add-in card to make this thing not a big turd? I have a 15 g3 with the M1000M in it that I used to use for work, it's pretty beat up and I wouldn't even mind cannibalizing it for the card, if I can.

Thoughts? Info?

I think the 16gb DDR4 DIMIMS are probably worth it just for resale alone, and I'd get a mostly-free laptop with the Dreamcolor...(I have 32gb in the 15g3 I can move over already, plus nvme)

 

So turns out this one DID NOT have the Dreamcolor but has a M5000M pre-installed.


Got it for $500 and an hour long car ride, had never even been turned on..

 

No chance of forting an rx5000m on then lol

 

Once again, I`m back to this, thinking about upgrade my M1000M..

What AC adapter do you use for the 980m? I have the original 200w one, I'm not sure if it will provide enough juice to run the card...

Does anybody else would mind to share about?


Thanks.

 

yeah the Original 200w power supply works. I have both my 17" Zbook G3's with the 980m and the 1060m running on the 200w PU.

 

Update: 1060m died. One of the resistors on the bottom side near the IC 024 has burn mark on one side and the laptop wouldnt even turn on. Removed the 1060m and system booted. Could try to replace it but its super tiny. Rather just buy a new card, dont want to spend money on trying to fix it and buy the right stuff to fix it with. (soldering iron etc.)

The 1060 has a different chip layout that does not match heatsink exactly, I figure that it didnt have enough cooling from the heatsink there. The 1060m worked for a good 3 or 4 months though through all my games. Out of all the games it died on loading Ages of Empires 2.

I am probably going to get a another 980M MXM and be done with it since I know its the exact layout for the heatsink. My other ZBook 17 G3 has had a 980m in it for almost a year already with no issues.
I got this Zbook 17 G3 later and thought Id experiment and try to go above the 980m with the 1060m so at the end it worked but didnt last long.


Current Laptops
HP ZBook 17 G3 w/980m
HP ZBook 17 G3 dead 1060m, pending to get another 980m

 

Finally bought myself a Zbook this week. The Zbook 17 G3 with a M3000M. I researched it over and over again before I decided to buy it but what a nice upgrade it is from a 8770W.

However.. I cannot fix one thing and this are the lower trackpad buttons? When the trackpad is disabled those buttons stay active? Very annoying during writing! Installed latest drivers from HP website (19.0.19.69 Synaptics LuxPad V1.3 it says). The upper row is disabled but the lower row isn't when I click on "disable" in the Windows 10 mouse section. If I leave it enabled and I double tap the trackpad to disable then the pad is disabled but both the upper and lower row mouse buttons stay active.

What is going on? Installed latest BIOS (1.45) didn't help also, cannot find any trackpad settings to begin with in the BIOS. What am I missing?

 

OK .. One hour later...

I figured out that Windows 10 also has an enable/disable touchpad switch by itself (Mouse -> (Synaptics) TouchPad and then this large Microsoft mouse and touchpad button . Now its completely off. But.. As a result double tap doesn't work also anymore to activate the trackpad. Brilliant! /sarcasm

Ah well, at least those buttons are inactive now.

 

Could use some assistance here, if anyone has some experience with this:

So...I have been working for several weeks on a very significant project. And unfortunately...haven't been having much luck. I decided that I wanted to go AMD. Most cards I've tried have worked fine, temp control and all. But...this most recent one...I haven't been able to. And I really...really would like it, if it could work somehow.

To be specific, it's a G3 as implied...and the card I'm trying to get to work is a 4GB RX 480/Radeon Pro WX 7100. The problem I have is, simply, the laptop refuses to recognize this card. In Windows, it doesn't see it. When the BIOS is switched to dedicated graphics mode, there's no output at all.

It's exactly the same in a Zbook 17 G1. I've been trying to fix an MSI GT60 to get a different brand to try it with, but unfortunately, that hasn't worked. Can anybody, perhaps, give me some advice or things to consider?

I do have a SPI flasher and have tried several different VBIOS to see if, perhaps, a VBIOS flash could take care of the issue.

As such, I can try other VBIOS, or modded VBIOS, and I've studied Polaris so I know how to pass the signature checks. At this point, I'll try almost anything.

If possible...could I get some assistance from people who are more knowledgeable? Or do I need to downgrade my goals to S7100X?

 

wow, very nice achievement!

but, what does "can't drive the screen reliably" mean? What happens? You posted this message over a year ago, something changed in the meantime? Still satisfied?


--
It's a cheap but weird choice because I think it's an AUO149D which does a below average job on basically all levels. Better would be a CMN175D, if that would work.

 

Hi.
Has anyone tested graphics Quadro P series like P3000 P4000 or P5000 with HP Zbook 17 G3. Is that works?
Thanks for answer.

 

Sorry to hear that.. Thanks for sharing. So the burned part matches the unprotected area in the heatsink? Do you think a simple mod / thermal pad would address that?

 

I just bought a refurbished Zbook G3 17 on Newegg for $600. And to my surprise... it's COMPLETELY NEW!!! I looked at HW id and found that the on time was all from me.

the specs I got was 6820HQ, 16GB (1Stick), M3000M.

I bought a P4000 on ebay for 260 bucks. of which i think is a Steal. got another Stick of 16GB, and a 120hz screen.

I haven't had time to install all the upgrades yet, but i'll keep you guys posted!

 

Id be interested how this works out after you do the upgrades also.

 

Cool, same specs as mine although I have 2x8GB.. Which screen exactly and why? Don't forget the 40pin cable, mine just arrived out of China

 

So I have the 17” G3 with the 1080 screen which I believe is the 30 pin. Have you all experienced an upgrade to the 4K panel from the 1080 30 pin screen? I’m going to purchase the 980m again and might as well go to 4K if it already has been done.

 

To my understanding you also need a 40 pin cable if you want 4K, its called an UHD cable after all. My interest is about 120, 144 or 240 fps though. Not only for (3D) gaming but also just for general use. I think it's much better to watch a screen which supersedes my current original CMN1738 (review example https://www.notebookcheck.net/HP-Omen-17-7700HQ-GTX-1050-Ti-FHD-Laptop-Review.232170.0.html )

AUO509D is a 240 Hz panel being reviewed here; https://www.notebookcheck.net/Aorus...treme-performance-extreme-noise.445964.0.html .. Overall a quite good panel although problably just a tad too dim (250 cd/m² is not really something to rave about)

Then there is the AUO409D which is a 144 Hz panel being reviewed here https://www.notebookcheck.net/Asus-...0H-RTX-2080-Max-Q-Laptop-Review.410959.0.html for example (its not the only review but performance across the different laptops do not differ a lot, as you would expect from a display panel)

The CMN175C also 144 Hz which has my attention, reviewed for example here https://www.notebookcheck.net/MSI-G...n-Core-i7-and-GeForce-RTX-Combo.478416.0.html

And last but not least, I mentioned it before. The CMN175D (panelook reference missing?) 144 Hz reviewed here; https://www.notebookcheck.net/HP-Om...ing-with-some-small-limitations.432964.0.html or here https://laptopmedia.com/review/hp-o...h-gen-intel-cpus-inside-a-very-strong-laptop/ .. I think these specs are pretty good but..

The list with possibilities goes on and on. I even wonder if its possible to achieve G-sync in any way with one of those panels. Nvidia Optimus is not active on our laptops with some laptops this is the problem that G-sync cannot work. But I don't know what other requirements are needed to achieve G-sync capabilities (driver hacking? :x ). Should be automatically possible? => http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/hp-omen-15-and-17-owners-lounge.808312/page-14#post-10930955 .. Difficult to find the real holy grail of the high refresh rate displays. Not sure what to do yet. Maybe going for CMN175D after all.

 

Hi ! (Sorry if my english is not perfect)

I noticed there are not many differences between ZB 17 G3 and G4 that's why I've done this :

I recently buy a hp ZBook 17 G3 (i5, 8gb ram, 500 hdd, quadro m1000m, hd+) on ebay for $400. Then I bought a compatible board for G4 (xeon e3 1535 v6, but bios password) for $150, a G4 quadro cooler ($25) + a radeon Rx 480 4gb overclocked mxm ($150). I'm still waiting for the shipping (weeks since I'm in Madagascar) but I plan to upgrade the G3 hardware with the G4 ones.

I will share results and pics. It could be a solution for those planning to use Pascal gpu on G3 if G4 heatsink is compatible since the last was design to support Pascal GPU.

I also plan to upgrade the screen later to get a faster so I'm waiting for advices of those who actually made it.

 

Hi
Did you tested it ?

 

........................................................................................................................................................................................

I received my purchase and I can confirm a few things :
1. HP ZB 17 G3 and G4 use the same chassis/case
2. Their motherboard/heatsink/fan/PSU are fully compatible (I mean they fit in the same chassis; no mod needed)

Unfortunately, I encounter some issues with the AMD MXM GPU: it seems DOA. And I have another problem with the G4 motherboard: I can't find hybrid graphic settings in Bios. The motherboard works perfectly, I manage to remove the bios password but when I plug a dGPU, laptop boot but with a black screen. It seems I can only this board without dGPU or someone has a solution to bypass this problem

 

Sorry, i've been few projects that I haven't had the downtime to install. But I had some time today and it looks like i Bought the 30 pin cable and not the 40 pin. I swore I bought the 40 pin, but- i guess not. So i'll have to order the right cable

 

The reason you are not seeing hybrid in the bios is mpre than likely because you are using a dreamcolour screen. If you have one of these it will automatically switch dedicated and not accept any other option

 

I don't have a dreamcolor screen. It's a regular panel HD+ not really exciting. In fact I noticed that the missing Graphic option in bios was present in the g3 with the quadro m1000m onboard, but it disappeared also when I tried to install the radeon rx 480 on it. I think the same thing happened with the G4. I'm not sure anymore if the rx 480 is dead or just incompatible with my system.

Now what I don't understand is : why the g3 boots with the radeon rx 480 up to windows (even if you can't see it in devices manager), but the g4 shows me a black screen on boot when I use the rx 480 or the quadro m1000m

 

just an update, i did upgrade my M3000M to the p4000. It was successful. Hardware wise, make sure you get exttra thermal pads and also don't forget the XBRACE. i forgot it and had to pop it off from the old GPU

i went into the bios,selected hybrid mode. i modified my .inf file
i modifed release 452.06 from nvidia,

modified .inf file.

THE ASSUMPTION HERE IS THAT YOU HAVE A G3!

THIS WAS INSERTED INTO NVBL.INF

[STRING]
NVIDIA_DEV.1BB7.80D6.103C = "NVIDIA Quadro P4000"

[NVIDIA_Devices.NTamd64.10.0...17134]?

%NVIDIA_DEV.1BB7.80D6.103C% = Section060, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_1BB7&SUBSYS_80D6103C